Survival: The Prequel
by DonnieF
Summary: When the Normandy is destroyed by an unknown ship, 2nd Lieutenant Mason Fullen seeks to uncover the mystery of who destroyed her, and to discover whether Commander Shepard survived or not. Enlisting the help of Captain James Turner and the S.S.V. Andraste, Mason discovers that Cerberus may have taken Shepard's body, and is sent to reclaim it. Rated T for some language.


**Author's Notes: This is pretty much a story that will tell what happens to the main characters of my _Survival_ story. I came up with this idea a few weeks ago when I wanted to continue writing Survival but couldn't find any ideas to push it along, I'm hoping writing this will help out, plus provide some back story for it. Without further interruptions, here it is, Survival: Prequel :D**

**Location: Milky Way/Omega Nebula/Amada System/In Orbit of Alchera**

The vessel shook violently as a blazing beam of light that pierced into the ship; massive explosions marred the surface of the ship. Within the interior of the vessel, the lights had shut down, replaced by the ominous deep crimson glow of the emergency lights. She was dead in the water, no way to escape her pursuer that now preyed on the frigate.

Corporal Mason Fullen found himself face down against the cold steel floors of the _SSV Normandy_, the high-pitch sound of klaxons blaring in the distance as flames consumed the mess hall made him groan. He grunted painfully and tried to get himself back onto his feet, but found himself pinned underneath some heavy rubble. Slightly panicked, he shouted out for anyone nearby to help him, but no one came. He was alone, trapped in the burning mess hall of an Alliance frigate. He tried to move his arm so he could access his omni-tool and call for help, but he couldn't feel them anymore. After a few seconds, the pain of being crushed underneath kilos of steel caused him to wince in misery, his vision blurring as he tried to stay conscious. He faintly heard a shout from across the room, but the words became indistinguishable from the silence that filled his ears. Suddenly, he felt the steel rubble that held him down be thrown off, a hand reaching down and gently brought him back to his feet. At first he felt as if he was going to fall right back down on his ass, but felt an arm wrap around him as his hearing returned to normal.

"Come on, Mason! The Normandy's going down!" It was a feminine voice, one that he recognized but couldn't think of who it belonged to. He simply let her carry him to the nearest escape pod, where she gently put him down in one of the chairs. He looked up and finally got to study his savior, Corporal Brooke Richardson. He smiled at his best friend, who smiled back and strapped herself into a seat opposite him. A moment later, a young woman in a pink and white body suit came running and quickly jumped into the escape pod, turning around just in time to see a serviceman die in an explosion, too late to get to safety.

"Let's get out of here," she said and shut the pod door, launching the pod into the void, and prayed to God that whatever is attacking them won't incinerate them.

"Chief, what's going on? Who's attacking us?" Brooke asked as she tried to calm herself down.

"Don't know, Corporal," Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams replied, "Whoever they are, they aren't friendly."

"Could it be the Geth?" Mason asked coarsely, coughing from the pain he had to endure.

"The Geth can't detect the Normandy while the stealth systems are engaged," she replied, "We'll just have to wait till the Alliance picks us up to get some answers."

"What about Shepard, did he get out?" Mason asked out of curiosity, wondering where their commanding officer was.

"Stayed to get Joker," Ashley replied, silently hoping that Shepard got out okay. She couldn't believe how fast their mission to the Amada System turned sour. Only a couple of hours on patrol, and the _Normandy_ was going to go down in flames; she clenched her fists at the thought.

Suddenly Mason felt their escape pod be violently pushed as a shockwave from behind blew past them. Everyone winced as the pod started to spin out of control for a minute before stabilizing and got back on course with the rest of the tiny lifepods that now carried the crew of the _Normandy_. The shockwave could've only been generated by one thing; their beloved frigate suffered enough damage to cause an explosion. Mason only prayed that Shepard and Joker got out alive, but the likelihood that Shepard could've gotten the slightly-crippled pilot to an escape pod in time was slim to none. A sudden wave of sadness gripped him when he began to realize that his Commander, the man who defeated Sovereign, the first Human Spectre, the man who put a Human on the Council, could now be dead, blown into billions of pieces by an unknown ship.

After a few minutes of silence, Ashley stood up, activating a haptic interface on the wall and began to broadcast to the fleet of escape pods, "This is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams to any surviving members of the _Normandy_, converge at these coordinates and wait for rescue, Williams out."

Mason let his head fall as the exhaustion of the day finally crept onto him, and his eyes began to blur. A few moments later, he was asleep, oblivious to the world that was falling apart around him. He knew that rescue would come, and they would be safe again, and silently hoped that the Commander will be there to reassure them once again.

* * *

**Location: Milky Way/Serpent Nebula/Widow System/The Citadel**

_**One week later...**_

"Today, thousands of mourners came to the Citadel to pay their respects for the loss of the men and women aboard the _SSV Normandy_, including Commander Shepard, the first Human Spectre and the man who saved the Citadel from the Geth attack over a month ago. The Commander and the crew who lost their lives to save the others will be dearly missed and the Council is proposing a monument be built in dedication for those lost."

The past week had been hell for Mason, spending four days waiting for rescue, stuck inside a tiny escape pod with ten people without showers. The entire ride was like a sweaty, stinky, cramped dream. Ashley kept everyone in line and made sure that no fights were started because of the lack of space and the smell of the pod itself.

Now Mason found himself back on the Citadel, sitting across from Brooke at a local sushi place she liked, with some extravagant fish inside a tank that served as the floor to the establishment. He owed her his life frankly, and figured he might as well get her some dinner for everything she had to go through over the past week. He looked up from his drink when he heard her begin to talk.

"So, I've been thinking about resigning from the Alliance, after the destruction of the _Normandy_... I just don't know if I could go through that again."

He nodded slowly before replying, "I understand. Been thinking about it too but, the Alliance is all I have now. I might just go back to the _Andraste_, I hear Captain Turner is heading out to investigate the wreckage of the _Normandy_, I want to be there when they find it."

"I... I don't think I would go back there, not after everything we had to go through, we lost the Commander, and we lost the best ship in the Alliance fleet," a tear began to fall from her eyes, "I just can't go through that pain again."

"I need to see it... even if it's just to confirm that Shepard is dead. I owe it to our friends who never got a chance to get out alive," He added, taking a sip of his drink before looking down at his feet, "It's important I find out who did this to us... to the Commander."

She smiled sadly before patting his hand softly with hers, "I understand, Mason. I really hope you find out who did it and give them hell, make them pay for what they did to the_ Normandy _and Shepard."

He smiled before he confidently replied, "I will, and they will wish they had never messed with humanity."

* * *

"Councilor Anderson, may I talk to you for a moment?" Mason asked politely as he strolled into the Councilor's office in the Embassies in the Presidium.

"One moment," the older man replied, tapping for a few minutes on his computer before shutting it down and indicating for the Corporal to sit down in a seat across from him.

While he waited, Mason thought about what he wanted to say to the man, and how he could request to be assigned to the _Andraste_ so he could investigate the wreckage of the _Normandy._ He tried to find the words, but they just wouldn't come, he was so engrossed in trying to figure out what to say, he nearly missed Anderson's questions.

"Huh... oh, um, what'd you say, sir?" He quickly asked, "I'm sorry, Councilor, my mind is working in overdrive right now."

"It's quite alright, Corporal. I can only imagine what you're going through right now. We both have to deal with the death of the Commander in our own ways."

"Yeah, about that sir... I wish to be reassigned onto the _Andraste_, I want to investigate what's left of the _Normandy_ and find out who did it, sir," he scratched his arm slightly out of nervousness, hoping the Councilor would pull some strings for him to be reassigned.

The Councilor's eyes glazed over as he thought over what the Corporal was asking of him. It was obvious that the young man wished to find and avenge the death of Shepard, which made Anderson want to say no, in fear of the man dying for revenge. He didn't want this young Corporal to make a mistake that'll ultimately cost him his life and maybe even the life of the crew of the _Andraste_, but the look in the Corporal's eyes made up his mind, "Alright Corporal, I'll assign you to the _Andraste_, and grant you the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, you'll be serving Captain Turner as his advisor and co-pilot. You'll take orders from Captain Turner, but your main mission will be given from me, and that's to find out who destroyed the _Normandy_ and killed Shepard, and if you can, find his remains. The man deserves a proper burial."

Mason smiled with relief, standing up to shake the Councilor's hand, "Thank you, Councilor. You won't regret this."

"I know I won't. Make me proud, son," Anderson replied and returned the handshake. Mason nodded appreciatively before bowing and hastily left the Councilor's office.

He was nearly bursting with joy as he strolled through the Embassies, stopping for a brief second as the door in front of him opened to reveal Brooke sitting in the reception room. She waved him over and patted the spot next to her on the bench for him to sit down, "So, how did it go?"

"The Councilor has given me permission to serve aboard the _Andraste_. Wish you were comin' with, it'd be just like old times," Mason replied, crossing his legs a bit and tried to get comfortable on the steel bench.

"Maybe next time," she smiled softly then added, "I'll be going back to Earth to be with my family again, it's been a long time since I've seen Mom and Dad."

"Tell them I said hello once you get there," he laughed, "I'm sure they'll appreciate it."

"I will," she replied, before standing up, "Goodbye Mason, can't wait to see you back on Earth."

"Likewise," he replied and smiled, "It won't take too long."

"It better not," she smiled mischievously and winked, before walking away casually. Mason blinked for a second before tilting his head a bit, slightly confused. He shrugged finally before standing up, walking at a fast pace so he could get to the _Andraste _in time for liftoff.

* * *

Captain James Turner frowned when he received his orders. His ship was being sent to investigate the attack on the_ Normandy_. But what made Turner frown the most is the possible danger his ship and crew will be put in if that unknown ship was still in the vicinity. There was just too much at risk for him to even want to accept the mission, but the Councilor left him no choice.

He turned to look behind him as the door to his quarters slid open, and a man in a black Alliance hoodie and a pair of blue jeans stepped through, Turner recognized the man's face immediately, "Mason! Come in! It's been so long!" He said happily as he gestured for Mason to sit down in an empty seat.

"It's good to see you, Captain," Mason replied, reaching out his hand, Captain Turner firmly returning the handshake, "I wish it could've been under better circumstances though."

"Yes, I'm terribly sorry about the _Normandy_, she was a fine ship, even if she was classified for a good percentage of her life."

"She was one of the best, Captain. Did Anderson inform you of my assignment aboard the _Andraste_?" Mason fidgeted a little bit as he tried to get comfortable in the chair.

"Advisor to the mission, answers to me but your primary orders come from Anderson, yeah I've gotten the gist of it," he replied, "Also, congratulations on your promotion, from Corporal to 2nd Lieutenant, not bad."

"It surprised me," Mason laughed before standing up, "I didn't expect such a huge advancement. Anyway, am I getting my old pod?"

Turner smiled, "Just for you. Crewmen Sanders volunteered to give up the pod for the duration of your stay."

"That's nice of her," Mason replied, smiling as well, "I'll go ahead and get my stuff into a locker and head to sleep then, it's been a long week."

Turner chuckled and said, "I can't blame you. Not after all the shit you had to go through. I'll see you in the morning, Lieutenant. Dismissed."

Mason saluted sharply before turning around on his heel and hastily left the Captain's quarters. Only stopping to toss his bag into an unoccupied locker and changed into a white t-shirt and shorts before quickly finding his old pod. He quickly tapped the haptic interface to open the pod, and stepped in, the pod doors closing as soon as he was inside. After a few moments, he closed his eyes, and felt his entire body calm down as he quickly fell asleep, the first real sleep he's had in a very long time.


End file.
